Reid, who is facing a tough
reelection challenge himself, said public opinion is shifting in favor of the
new healthcare law Democrats passed through Congress earlier this year and
predicted more and more voters would reject Republicans’ calls for repealing
the legislation. 

The more people know about
healthcare, the better they like it, said Reid, who listed several aspects of
the new law he sees as popular.

{mosads}The Senate Democratic
leader is reflecting a sense among Democrats that playing up benefits within
the healthcare law that would be threatened by a GOP repeal will help incumbent
Democrats this fall. 

“All the polls around the
country, including Nevada, indicate that when people are presented with: ‘Do you
want to do away with giving 25,000 small businesses in Nevada a 3 percent
discount on the healthcare?’ they all say no,” Reid explained in an interview
with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network. “ ‘Do
you want to have Medicare extended for 19 years like we did it?’ They say yes.
You don’t want to repeal that. ‘Do you want to open the doughnut hole again?’
They say no, so the more people know about healthcare, the better they like it.”

Republicans, for their part,
note that polls have been much more mixed than Reid had argued. Senate
Republicans released a research document last Wednesday showing three polls
that show support for the reform law below 50 percent.

Reid also said that his party
had no choice but to tackle Wall Street reform and healthcare reform during the
past year and a half. 

“Both those issues, had we
not done, we would have bankrupt our country, so I think as has been seen in
the polls around the country now the majority of Americans support healthcare
reform,” he said. “The talk about repealing healthcare just won’t go anyplace,
so I think everything’s been necessary. It’s been good, and our country is
better for having passed this legislation.”

Reid has come under fire on
healthcare, Wall Street reform and other top issues from his GOP challenger in
this fall’s election, former State Assemblywoman Sharron Angle. 

Reid called Angle out of the
mainstream and said he’s “comfortable”
with where his campaign efforts are Monday.

“I think that what I have
seen her say, what I have watched her say, what I have read what she has said,
she’s not mainstream for Nevada or probably most any other place in America,”
Reid said of Angle. 

“I have a campaign that’s moving along just fine,” the majority
leader said elsewhere in the interview. “I feel comfortable where we are today.”